Client Retention and The Gift of Feedback

 

As the Data-Driven Salon Summit approaches this weekend in Nashville, SALON TODAY's Stacey Soble recently sat down with Charity Hudnall, vice president of marketing for Vagaro, to talk about her presentation centered on Client Retention. 

In coaching salon clients around marketing and engagement, Hudnall says salons, like other businesses, see peaks and seasons with high traffic, such as proms, weddings and holidays.

"One thing I do want to show Data-Driven attendees is that client retention is important because up to 80% of sales are attributed to recurring revenue that you can predict and count on," Hudnall says. "That's important to stylists as well, because then they know they don't have to spend as much time working on recruiting new clients."

The metric of client retention can be an indicator to an owner or manager than a staff member is struggling. "The proof is in the pudding, right? In this case, the proof is in the metrics," Hudnall says. "There are a ton of different things you can explore, but there is a secret sauce to client retention. Data is important and we have some really simply reports that can show you where a specific staff member may need a little help or nuturing to improve, which will help with client retention."

Having the data behind you can help take the emotion out of the conversation when you need to talk to an employee about performance. "I just worked with my own staff about the gift of feedback," Hudnall says. "When you have the data, then it's not just your opinion, and you'll find that when you share the data, your stylists will begin looking at it on their own. And, you'll find when you present them with data, they'll show more respect about what you are saying." 

Watch the interview about to learn more about client retention and Hudnall's presentation at Data-Driven.